671 
February 22,1873.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTION?. 
water, even when acidulated, being required to dissolve 
the sulphate. He had found a solution of the _ sulpho- 
vinate to keep well without undergoing alteration, and 
it presented the great advantage that it could be used 
immediately in cases of urgency. 
M. Bourdon remarked that salts of quinine admi¬ 
nistered hypodermically were rapidly ahsorbed, and were 
found in the urine much more quickly than when they 
were administered by the mouth. 
Propylamine and Hydrochlorate op Propylamine. 
M. Adrian presented to the society specimens of propy¬ 
lamine or trimethy la mine, and the hydrochlorate of 
those bases. The first of these specimens was a solution 
of propylamine, or rather of trimethylamine, a compoimd 
of the ammonia type, which may be looked upon as an 
artificial alkaloid (C 3 H 9 N). It may be obtained from 
herring brine, from ergot of rye, and also from the 
Chenopodium vulvaria, which possesses in a high degree 
the repulsive and characteristic odour of this compound. 
It is also found in urine and putrefied blood. M. Adrian 
said that when this product was obtained from herring 
brine, which contained it in considerable proportion, it 
was always accompanied by a large quantity of ordinary 
ammonia. When commercial propylamine was saturated 
with hydrochloric acid, a mixture of hydrochlorate of 
trimethy lamine and chloride of ammonium was produced. 
Moreover, the commercial liquid was far from being 
always of the same degree of concentration, different 
specimens having yielded very variable proportions of 
crystallized salt. He thought, therefore, for medical 
purposes, there would be great advantage in preparing 
the hydrochlorate of trimethylamine, free from chloride 
of ammonium, and he exhibited a definitely crystallized 
specimen which had been prepared in the laboratory of 
the Societe Framjaise. He showed that when its solu¬ 
tion was treated with caustic potash, the characteristic 
odour of propylamine was given off without ammonia; 
while from a commercial specimen of propylamine, am- 
moniacal vapours were plentifully disengaged. 
M. Dujardin-Beaumetz, reported that he had re¬ 
peated with success the experiments of Professor Awe* 
narius, of St. Petersburg, and Dr. G. Namias, of Venice, 
who have recommended this substance in the treatment 
of rheumatism : he expressed his agreement with the re¬ 
marks of M. Adrian, and said that the difference in the de¬ 
gree of concentration of the commercial liquid had at¬ 
tracted his attention. He was desirous to have a pure and 
definite preparation, in order that he might complete his 
therapeutic experiments. If the hydrochlorate of tri¬ 
methylamine should prove to possess the same properties 
as the solution, which was very probable, there would be 
no doubt that it should have the preference. 
M. Martineau remarked that he had administered this 
remedy to several patients at the Hotel Dieu; they had 
been able to take the solution in doses of two grammes 
per day, and the results obtained were such as to en¬ 
courage him to continue his experiments. 
ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN. 
Friday , January 17 th, 1S73. 
On the Old and New Laboratories at the 
Royal Institution. 
BY WILLIAM SrOTTISWOODE, ESQ., LL.D., M.A. 
(Concluded from page 656.) 
Of Faraday’s successor, John Tyndall, I am greatly 
at a loss how to speak. In this place his presence 
seems so near to us, his thoughts so subtle, his words 
—even when rung back to us from those busy cities far 
away on the other side of the Atlantic—so familiar and 
yet so stirring, that it behoves us that ours should be 
wary and few. Few men have brought so large a bur¬ 
den and bulk of contribution to the common stock of 
knowledge ; but still fewer have inspired in his hearers 
so strong a love, such ardent enthusiasm for the sub¬ 
jects of his research. 
It is now twenty years since Professor Tyndall began 
his researches in our laboratory. During the first 
thirteen years he produced no less than thirteen papers, 
which were printed in the ‘ Philosophical Transactions : ’ 
on Sound, on Diamagnetism, on Glaciers and Ice, on the 
Radiation and Absorption of Heat, and on Calorescence. 
In these he established the important fact that if the 
various gases be arranged in order according to their 
power, first of radiating heat and secondly of ab¬ 
sorbing radiant heat, the order will be the same 
in both cases. He further proved that the chief 
absorbing action of our atmosphere on non-luminous 
heat is due to its aqueous vapour; Ho applied hi& 
discovery to the explanation of many meteorological 
facts, e.y., the great daily range of the thermometer in 
dry climates; the production of frost at night in the 
Sahara; the cold in the table-lands of Asia, etc. 
He discovered also the means of separating the in¬ 
visible from the visible radiations, and proved that in 
the case of the electric light the former is no less than 
eight times as powerful as the latter. He also made 
the daring experiment of placing his eye at a focus of 
dark rays capable of heating platinum to redness. 
Since 1866 his attention has been largely occupied in 
examining the action of heat of high refrangibility 
(instead of low), as an explorer of the molecular con¬ 
dition of matter. 
In this investigation one obstacle to be overcome was 
the presence of the floating matter in the air. The 
processes of removal of these particles became the oc¬ 
casion of an independent research, branching out into- 
various channels; on the one hand, it dealt with the 
very practical problem of the preservation of life among, 
firemen exposed to heated smoke; and, on the other, it 
approached the recondite question of spontaneous, 
generation. 
He subjected the compound vapours of various sub¬ 
stances to the action of a concentrated beam of light. 
The vapours were decomposed, and non-volatile pro¬ 
ducts were formed. The decompositions always began 
with a blue cloud, which discharged perfectly polarized 
light at right angles to the beam. This suggested to 
him the origin of the blue colour of the sky; and as it 
showed the extraordinary amount of light that may be 
scattered by cloudy matter of extreme tenuity, he con¬ 
sidered that it might be regarded as a suggestion to¬ 
wards explaining the nature of a comet’s tail. 
[The lecturer then exhibited the polarization of light 
scattered by small particles suspended in the medium 
traversed by a beam from the electric lamp, employing, 
for the purpose the chromatic effects due to the circular 
polarization of quartz.] 
His volume of contributions to molecular physics in 
the domain of radiant heat, which contains only his 
original investigations on this subject, would alone suf¬ 
fice to show what is doing in the laboratory of our 
institution. 
If we compare him to Faraday at the same time of 
life, he has still many years of intellectual energy, the 
conversion of which into its scientific equivalent may,, 
perhaps, be effected within these walls. 
No one has regretted the destruction of the labora¬ 
tory of Davy and of Faraday more than Professor 
Tyndall. He almost prayed for the preservation of 
the place where their discoveries had been made; but- 
as soon as he saw that in our struggle for existence 
such material aids as improved buildings would con¬ 
duce alike to the progress of science and to the per¬ 
manence of the institution, he withdrew his objections, 
and threw all his powers into making the new lab ora- 
